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||p p The Watchman and S?uthron^l%
fmi , SUMTER, S. C., WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 2, 1901. ~
tfeaa ? 3fil?ion Dollars Invested
'a . ?ieat Enterprise-Cae
J^^^^?^tin?::3B[<H?' than .
_^p^000\ Spwdles -The
'?^^o??Rpor?????t?e? Offered >'
iUnsJdl?ed andXrn
. trained Help?
Convenience "and Comfort
Iggisred Iffi?l Help-A Happy
and Contented Family*
^fee-.clrmax pf' cotton .'mill' development
^G^jSt?te'. for the -Century .just .closed
f??^ichedin the;.OIymp2a/Cotix>hMi^ It
^^^ont conspicuously as the highest
tee^rj?ctt? construction in this country,
feay^?ronounced: by competent; m?l peo
aV^bst complete? up-to-date and
%amffing: ? cotton manufacturing plant in
S^BOTontry. It" represents the type of
?D pf- which are successful,
^^^wi?iout- douW the largest ; cotton
g&?^ ,a ;aa^exoof-in the entire Sbuth
ga?jSj??Se^ and competent judges;announce
^?le most complete mni plant in
to|countryi-^and no nation-.is ahead <k
?sico?stss'-?a the "cotton m?l.business.
heai" and jmow that the Olympia
te^-the largest, in-the' South,-"but;, they
la^bt 'know;' nor do they think, of what
rraabina tions go to make this magnificent
Lructure what ?t is.'
33?i?3r of a single ?'colton mill consuming
j?jMlSb&es cf cotton. ' .
i: employ, when all (machinery is iru
f||g^izboperation, more than, 1,200
If.operatives.^
AN AVENUE OF OPI
?p, ;3? has the most modern and improved j
?^t'chinery and, with the new and up-to-j
machinery, operatives can readily
*?earamore than they would in old plants
?With antiquated equipment.
|?:"?It nus the- 'best class and most up-to-date
i?S"tor'irs operatives.
?. It is on the direct line-of the Columbia
^Electric Street Railway, and within a few
^^ainutes' ride of the heart of the city.
. - It is near enough to the- city to give all
rv^t??- advantages and pleasures of the city
^<sf. Columbia.
Sit will buiid a $20,000 school building for
?Jlj?ife"..children of its operatives and support,
^I'tie. scnool cf its own accord and out of its 1
||ptfwrfc funds.
ggf' It offers the best school and church op
ipipwtuniti?s to its help.
lt is a mill operated, owned and man
? : aged *by South Carolinians, who have the
|rV same sentiments, purposes and feelings as
ir ' . those who do the work.
% li has lavished money in installing the
5. most thorough sanitary arrangements in
the mill and its village.
It employs a mill physician, whose ser?
vices are at the call of employees without
[cost - .
i The wages are full and the piece work as
other classes permit better incomes
usual, -because of the improved facil
and new machinery
I
The plant is operated throughout with]
electricity. The expectation is to soon offer j
electric lights to all of the operatives for
their, homes.
The pictures indicate the neat%.and atf
tractive homes that are provided, for -the
help.
, ABOUT THE MILL BUILDING. .
Something of the giant min itself: The,]
mill building of the Olympia : Mill is . S3
feet 2 inches long and-151 feet 2. inches
wide, and contains four floor s and- a base?
ment, .each story being IS -feet high.
There are two; towers about 24 hy 22 feet
and -139 feet 6 inches high, containing-the j
stairways and the tanks for the, sprinkler j
system.
Adjoining, the rear wall of the mill at the ?
? middle is a machine shop and-in the rear
I of this is the engine and -boiler rooms. The j
! engine room being 120 'by 50 feet, and the )
boiler house 140 by 40 feet in. plan.. In the
rear of. the latter is the building for the
mechanical draft plant. The first: floor of
the building is devoted to opening bales
and weaving; the second floor to weaving,
slashing, spooling and waxpingr the' third
to carding, drawing and lapping, and the
?RATrVES* HOMES,
fourth floor to spinning. Communication
between the floors is also afforded by two
Otis" electric elevators driven by alternat?
ing-current motors.
The mill will operate 104,000 spindles and
the latest Draper looms have "been put into
the mill. The total number of looms to ba
operated wm be 2,400 40-inch loomsf
The electric equipment at the mill com- '
poses every thing ? that has been construct?
ed by electrical or mill engineers. It is hy
odds the most thorough that has yet been
undertaken.
By using electricity the cost of the mill
"buildings was -reduced, by IO per cent on
account of the absence of heavy transverse
walls through the mill, necessary for the
head shafts at the beltway, with the belt
and shafting system. Sixty-one per cent
of the shafting cost was saved by the use
of electricly. Three-inch shafting is the
largest in the building. Sixty-six per cent
of the cost of the belts and ropes * was
saved with the electrical system. The sav?
ing due to these three items was sufficient,
it is said, to more than pay for the cost
of the electrical equipment of the mill.
Part of the electrical generating plant is
used to light the town and also to run a
street railway. The maximum power re?
quired by the mill is about 3,600-horse
power:
THI
The generating plant consists of three
McIntosh & Seymour engines, each of a
normal rating of 1,600-borse power, capable
of developing a maximum of 2,000-horse
power, directly connected to alternaiing
-current generators.
The engines are of the vertical cross
compound condensing type, with cylinders
20 and 48 inches in diameter, and a stroke
of 42 inches. The cylinders are steam
jacketed,' and a reheating receiver is placed
between them.
. PLENTY OF PURE WATER.
The water supply for the mill comes
-from a spring-fed reservoir of some 800,000
gallons* capacity, which also supplies the
mill village with its drinking water.
The mill is heated by two 14-foot electri?
cally driven Sturtevant fans, blowing^ ah>
.through horizontal ducts along the front
and rear walls of the mill, as shown in the
half plan and section of the mill-huild
ing. .
The mill architecture is imposing and
the structure is beautiful. Considerable
money was expended in beautifying the
building, and every possible convenience is
provided in and around the mil. The
closets and wash rooms are finished in
marble and mosaics, and elevators are
at hand for the operatives. A 5,000-pound
Schane bell is in one bf-the towers and
with beautiful tone strikes' the hours, and
in the second tower there is a standard
time clock.
The .officers of the mill company are:
President, W. E. Smith Whaley.
Vice -president. W. A. Clark.
General manager, J- S. Moore.
Secretary and treasurer, W. H. Rose.
Superintendent, F. S. Barnes.
A SUBJECT" OF PRIDE.
The mill was constructed on the plans
of W. JB. Smith Whaley & Co, the most
successful mill engineers in the South.
This firm has left its deep imprint on the
industrial development of the Southland
especially in South Carolina. In a recent
article it was stated that: "The record
of the firm is that of 530,676 spindles, 14,560
looms and $8,500,000 capital in a working
period pf seven years, unapproached by
any mill engineering firm in the South,
and should be a subject of pride to South
Carolina and to Columbia, as well as to
the members of the firm."
When we consider thar in 1S80 the entire
State of South Carolina contained only
26 cotton mills, with 181,743 spindles, 13,418
looms and $4,084,000 capital, against this
aggregate for one young South Carolina I
firnTof 539,676 spindles, 14,560 looms and j
S OLYMPIA COTTON MILL COLUMBIA,
$8,50G,000 - capital, the; extent of its con?
structive' achievements' may be better
realized. \
THE GENIUS OP W. B. SMITH
:"~ :>' T7KALEY.
Ii Columbia alone it has planted 197,000
spindles and 4,840 looms,: or more than the
whole* State\bad twenty-years ago, and
the capital employed in these mills-$3,100,
000~is. -only 'less : than . : that required for
the smaller humber of "looms and spindles
I in 1880, because, of the greater economy
possible-no w in building the best mills.
It is. proper to add that Mr JWhaley- is
the president of all but the smallest of
j these four Columbia .mills which he "has
j planned,, and which,.with 191,000 spindles,
I 4,620 looms 'and $3,000,000 capital, represents
i the largest cotton manufacturing invest
' ment in the South and one of the largest
! in the United States.
! An example of his far-sightedness and
! quick business perception may be noted
?in connection with the electrical installa
; tion of the- Olympia Mills. As "soon as the
! electrical transmission of power had been
! definitely determined upon for that, mill
j and its. location determined, he at once
! purchased the. .existing- electric car lines
! of the .-cixy: also .the .electrical lighting
business, and ,will^furnish the power and
current- from - the Olympia; also provide
? electricity, for the other mills. The re
: sultant. economies will not only be factors
in the.; net earnings of the railway and
lighting " systems., but will also add an
appreciable net income to credit of the
min.
OLYMPLVS GREATNESS ACK?OWL
. EDGED.
Last April, when the great Olympia Mill
was: started up, it was examined by a
number of the leading cotton mill officers
in the'country, men who lead in the cotton
industrial movement., One of these was
Capt Manning, o?', the Amoskeag Company,
who said: "The Olympia was the finest
structure of the sort he had ever seen.
He was glad the Olympia was not a com?
petitor of the.-Amoskeag Company."
j Mr Richardson, of" Massachusetts, said
! that the Olympia Mill was, in his opinion,
i the. finest cotton mill in the world-the
finest in architecture and equipment-and
he -said this with a full realization of what
i he was saying, as he was connected with
New England mills.
Not long ago .Mr H. E. C. Bryant
made a trip through the mill territory
and made disinterested and impartial in?
quiries and wrote a series of articles on
the result of his inquiries in the various
mills in this State and North Carolina,
ONE OF THE OLYMPIA HOMES*
s. c. . - . '.. -. I \ , \ :
and here is an interesting summary i
one of his letters:
"In .passing- through a mill settlemei
some weeks ago I stopped at the home <
a middle-aged man who had five childre
working in the mill. He Ijiyes in a si:
room, two-story house. I "met him som
distance from his house; I said: 'I wai
to see how you people.live. I would Iii
to go in some home where several childre
live.' He started in a jiffy- and said a
he walked: 'Come and go in my hous?
I I have five children, but; they are in .tl
mill.' Entering the house from the res
j we went through the dining room into
: bed room, and then into . the. parlor. Tfc
old gentleman was proud of the parl?:
He threw back the window curtains an
pointed to the large pictures on the wal
They were paintings from photographs c
his children. The floor of the room wa
carpeted and in one corner was an orgai
I From kitchen to garret the house wa
I clean. When mine- host had seen me t
I the door he said: 'I farmed on rented lan
j before I came here,-but I could not fee
my family there now. I lite the/Iii
j here. I like my employers.' They trea
j us well if we behave in-like manner to
j ward them. If we misbehave they tur:
us out and get ethers in our stead.' Whei
I moved here the\ superintendent warne?
me against drinking. :. He. said that h
would have none but xsober help. H
meant what he said, for I have not- see J
a drunken man on the .hill since I can*
here two years ago. My children are ii
good health and seem satisfied. "We ar<
all contented. All of us belong to th?
Church and attend regularly,'
"I went from house to house and\hear<
the same story. Indeed,, there is no prob
lem at the best mills between capital-ant
labor, for the mill owners and operatives
dwell in harmony.
The various religious, denominations ii
the mill sections are doing a great deal: foi
the factory element in .the South. Preachers
call on the operatives and their families
at their homes. Churches are*built"anc
preaching and Sunday-school conducted ai
nearly every mill. Within the last five
years in the South much has been don*
for the betterment of the condition of th?
cotton mill help. The work is till go'ing
on.
"No one who knows the. facts, as any
one can learn by going to the mills, can
doubt that the people who work in the
coton mills of the South are far better off
in every way than ever before.
"Such are the conditions in all the Caro?
lina mills.'"
Mr E. G. Dunnell, an experienced news
mmm
agaa ss ates SS ??
/. * ?s--,* >V ;
vs .. . '. .fe ii j ?.* ir-iJ
-. >, f,-' r< -*
paper man on the editorial staff of the
New York Times, visited the South and
made a careful study of the mill situation,
and in one of his letters recently to his
paper this New York writer had this to
say, among dither things:
"While the owners and stockholders are
/making- money they are conferring per?
manent blessings upon the people. As in
; other towns where hew mills haye -de*
mand?d increasing numbers of operatives
shops have started to supply the needs of
operatives or those-who were employed i?
new industries, called forth because of the
-coming of a laboring population. Stores;
have been obliged to carry large and. more
varied stocks. There is more travelling.
by raiL It is a matter of daily occurrence
that among the passengers who overcrowd
the trains of the Southern Railway there -
are inquirers arriving at various points
to look over the land with the view of set?
tling, either as persons already , concerned
in cotton manufacturing or hoping to be,
\ or tradesmen seeking a new market.
"The country is beautif ul. It is charm
I ing to the eye: it is naturally healthful',:.
I and in the towns will be mor? healthful -
1 with a little criticism and sanitation. The
I summers are long and the winters brief
j and unusually mild.
HOME OFFERED <
"But it is not alone in the coming of the
trolley, the expansion of the shops, the.
paving of streets in towns, the sanitation',
of all places of large population, the sen?
sation of earning money with a regularity
and certainty never before enjoyed in the
section, .that occasion for rejoicing is
"found in South Carolina. Attention was
directed by a thoughtful and observant
citizen to a sociological phase of the in?
dustrial development that is most satis?
factory, and that it seems a pity could not
be extended in some way to the State of
Kentucky.
"When Columbia began to build mills,
and the operation of the mills had made a
perceptible drain upon the most conven?
ient and willing class of the population
that was fitted to work in the mills, that
drain was felt a little at points more or
less remote from Columbia. Men and wo?
men who had yearned To*- opportunity to j
get money -without dissing or hoeing for.
it. moved from the foothills into town.?
first into places vacated by the people who
moved earliest, and afterward, as the j
mills began to rise nearer to the hills, into
the manufactories elsewhere.
EFFECT OF PROSPERITY.
"Most of these people were of the real
hardy mountaineer sort, with the same
soft, deliberate courteous address that. Is
characteristic of all che mountaineers in
the Virginias, the Carolinas. Tennessee or
Kentucky. They brought with them stal?
wart frames, dimple appetites and igno?
rance of letters. But they were not al?
together at fault for that. They had not
been treated as wards of the State. There
was a moving down from the mountain
districts into a region where there were
schools and stores and churches of a
proud but earnest and ambitious multi-,
tude that had sotten along without these
things, simpl^ because all their neighbors
.had- done**3i2ewlse for years.-; But the
pride rhat-ihad been satisfied .in ,the moun?
tains and: back country ina them ambi?
tious to keep:<'vp with the order of things
in ; the r?gion ; t?. which they had nrigraxed
The . ch?ds^^ust^b? clothed . like other
I chiidrerti; :the> wife-' must not. be compelled
to live in a sun bonnet. BEsB?
. ; ?cBpOLS FOR ALL.
'.^^e^it?Kcvschoois were at-once-patron
?'.iz?d;-hy/'-vChil3ren. who might have deyel
^oped1 lik?i ?the?r^-parenis if it had not been
for the;hu?ding. of new cotton mills. New
needs 'demanded money to gratify them.
.^The^Utt'^c^Hizat?on was rising;
."In man^^esi^ts .thds is the very-best
-result ^??rit?.i industrial awakening \iny
^?^vGaroi&a> The m?li- towns are* toound
to become centres of intelligence, taste, de
; velop?ng ???p?tite for necessary and "Imbi
rious surroundings, and, with the passing
of ' year^-ac?;the"ac(mrmiIation of means;:
? groups "of .^l?^^wned liomes of thousand?
who cairn^^^the towns penniless and igno- '
rant, a?d-^ve been fcy industry and thrift
converted? into law-abiding, temperate^, ih.^
dependentvand-self^specting Americans;**
Air that Mr linnell .has to say is correct,
but mor?>%>^here; as the mill o wners real?
ize ?th^i|^t??K^'iheIp_ is that- which is best
I 'paid- an??g^ea-t? Oft-home com- -
1 forts, :and_<$?? is the purpose of the Olym
-pia's^?n?gement '.^Bg?B?SS??I^SIm
W?B^f^jf THE TEAR RO?NX>. -
; OperativesIn^the South can and do workV
ail^?i-y^? iouiid if they wish ro ;ax^Cit
is ?b?Cher?^?sS?t Hs up in the Kew Kngfand '
"O^i^??t^pj^;..--cold weather mterferes"
wlth^ wortolfct.several months in eac& year. :
THE BESTrOEOFFICERS.
i The Olymfpfet Cotton ' Mill- has_col?ected
all the hje^thlngs. that are to bei^rad. 3t
has the/?M^inffl:buiIdmg, the finest ..ma-/
'?hte?ry^':th?. latest looms, : spindles and
other; ;macb&ejTi'-but the policy of the mfil
"has h??fi^^ most expe?
fiencedmen?a^^e.hiead of the various?de^ >
par rmeh1si|jp>re^ident W. B. Simith.Whaley.
knoi^:'fh^rdI?-business from the ground
floor up. . He workedhisway from th? bot- ;
tom-to th^io^ost^TX^ -ot- the. ladder,,.
and' so General Manager J. -SV Moore has
'^b?e^brought^up.in ;:th?::imp-tbusihe^;an?.c
. knows i^eyery -detail, and so on down'the
line; "a^nd^t?tat^is- why, its management ' is
ai?iouiia'o^curfetmskilled help and tiaini
rth?^work?r^;;wifh the skilled ami- compe- f
^ent ;b^5p^bVi;?5ed. It is a matter .of;t>ixt.
a short tim^-4^ vary short ;tim?^before the
^n?w ?h?lp;?c^>;ahd; does earn as much a?
? any in\?^:??S^iJ??:O?Ynw^'^e??.wili^be
robm^for-a?: -
T^'-BEST PEOPLE AT WORK.
i _ ':Ther?~ar^^o^day:^.tho?sands ' of the .best ;
: tpeople in^SohtIaS<-^bliha: who ?xe working '..
'' hr the infl^^id-who ' are .' delighted that '.
they <mange- -' /Families"_ who. had \i/b?C;i
? mer?:to?^)a?d eked
to-day Hving) comfortably iii mill c#mmnni? -
tles; -the?r.=^chiiaren have, the best-of school
I fac2ft?es;f:^yThaye th? hest?f chtcrch op-.
p?rtiinihes;j| and when, pay-day' comear
around 'tit?^an?.^.?eir^working family re
'cefV? the?ri^y^imd caa; and do -put asid? \
money. ; ^niHi?s who worked 'mid?r:th?iS
;?e?; syst?ihljaa^ in. ds??.;
"and;,th^-|?f?)t^growjtag month; by m?nt?. '
^?nd'year.by^year^ ^fi?aUy^abandoned farm
ing':tod?th^ae^t>'hasis,- and wehr into tho
mills withi^heJr -grown children ^and short , ;
^e1aj.<^?d^0ln^ortahIe~.and
It is. the constant aim:of such ; corpora-.;
. tioiasL as the" Olympia to have competent ; v
; aid hWpy^elp. and to havea.healthy and
satisfied community,, and to that- end evr
,erythi^vp^^ 'been; and is l>eing,. .
..^o?^'^.^ijp.??e?ttth. and pleasure of -tho ?
:Oparattve&^-: ???- , '''
?. '4-Ther^^^4^th?er:- - commuiiity- thia
that at;:1h^OIympia. Mill. The company-;.
has ^^ejp^ptiona? sewerage and drainage -:
. system?^a^<^ carted away hy the
g^l^^csj^foimed^by ;the,. ;. mill. The
. company.; ha? Employed arxompecent, wt?l
knoira; physician,' whose business -and
. " " -"
OLYMPIA'S. HELP.
pleasure it ?^o attend to'every medical
want of Tl^^peratives at the expense of
the mill comp??ty. ;
The ma?a^emeht is.desirious of having
the very hesirf?ass of 'operatives to live in
-their v??g?' an'd to work in the mill. As
.the mill' is^ust starting up this enormous
plant, the ,compairy.' win require several
hundred families "to give it the full num?
ber- of operatives. The mill, therefore, . ia
offering to receive "green" help and to
teach thern^o' work in- the faet?n?.
Anyone. dfeiri?^ to invesagate with a.
; view of accepting this offer, can get all' the
niformatioi?,- such as regards to wages of
the different kinds of work, etc, by writ?
ing to the'.superintendent of the Olympia
MiHs. or anysjf the mill officials, at Colum?
bia, s . c. '??BB?B?
Columbia c^ers a great many advantages
.to people-moving into the city. Its fine:
churches and- fine schools give to those
.persons living in^^ ?CoIuz?bia\advantages not
possessed by-a: good many other localities.
The mills; are all located on the street
car line, macing them very accessible to
any part bf "ihe^city.
A good many, families in the past have
moved in from their farms to work in the
factories here.-They seem to be perfectly
satisfied and in many instances have- bet?
tered their condition considerably^
The mill o?icials will he glad to commu?
nicate with any. parties desiring to come to
the mills for;;.the purpose of working in
them, and a*e satisfied that the opportuni?
ties are such as to satisfy them.
The story of" the Olympia Cotton Mill is
one of intense, interest to every Carolinian,
and wheii one thinks it will be realised
how very intimately the cotton mills of
the State axe as%-.ciated with the industrial
development of the State.